Adam Fantilli is a center.
He's not a winger. He's not a defenseman. And he's not a goalie.
When teams have awful seasons like the Blue Jackets did in 2022-23 and are lucky enough to be bad in a year where the draft is loaded with franchise-altering centers, you take a center.
That's what the Jackets did when selected Fantilli with the No. 3 overall pick in the Draft.
In the first 44 games of his career, he's posted 11-14--25 and ranks second on the team and among rookies in points and third among first-year players in goals. Among rookies who've taken at least 100 faceoffs, he ranks seventh with a 43.8% win percentage, which is the same number that Pierre-Luc Dubois posted as a rookie and a higher percentage than the rookie campaigns of Nico Hischier, Nathan MacKinnon, Mark Schiefele, Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Jack Hughes, among others. He's also taken more faceoffs than any rookie this season.
#CBJ Fantilli (10) goal pic.twitter.com/5oLXeXzUhD
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
At five-on-five, he's registered 13 takeaways compared to 10 giveaways, and since Dec. 1, 122 centers have been on the ice for more scoring chances against per 60 minutes, 159 centers have been on the ice for more high-danger chances against per 60, according to naturalstattrick.com. Between the start of the season and Nov. 30, he was in the top 60 in both SCA/60 and HDCA/60, with the top being the worst. So, he's been improving defensively.
#CBJ Fantilli (11) goal pic.twitter.com/85sE0DJsFV
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
Now, he's being moved to the wing.
To fit Boone Jenner back in the lineup at center, #CBJ coach Pascal Vincent said rookie Adam Fantilli will move to left wing.
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) January 17, 2024
If this is a one-game or short-term move, it's much ado about nothing. Boone Jenner has missed the team's last 15 games with a broken jaw so putting him back in the top-line center role makes sense. Additionally, the Johnny Gaudreau-Cole Sillinger-Yegor Chinakhov line has been fantastic over the last two games, so you need that line to be playing top-six minutes. In that sense, it's understandable that the team would rather have Fantilli as a top-six winger than a third-line center, but why not just move Jenner to the wing?
The Blue Jackets are not going to compete for a playoff spot. The main focus of this season should be on the development of the team's young players, especially Fantilli. who is the biggest piece of this rebuild.
Players like Fantilli don't come around often and the Blue Jackets cannot afford to hinder his development.
